The following are descriptions of this variety, as it appears
in different races.
Among the copper-coloured native Americans, in the Isthmus
of Darien, it is^accordingistD an intelligent eye-witness-,
remarkably frequent.; The albinos ;or blafards of Darien, are
thus described by Wafer
“ These persons are white, and there are of thtemof both
sexes; yet there are but few of them in comparison,«# the
copper-coloured, possibly but one to two or three hundred.
They differ from the other Indians chiefly in respect of colour,
though not in that o n ly .Th e i r . skins are not of such a white
as those of fair people among Europeans, with some tincture
of a blush or sanguine complexion; yet neither is it like that
of our paler people, but i t is rather a milk-white, lighter than
the colour of any European, and much like th a t of a white)
horse.
“ For there is this further remarkable in them, that their
bodies are beset all over, more or less, with a, fine',-short, milk-
white down; but they are not so thick-set with this down,
especially on the cheeks and forehead, but-that the skin ^appears
distinct from it. 3 Theiraye-brows are milk-whit elated,
and so. is the hair of their heads, and very fine withal, about
the length of six or eight inches, and inclining,to a curl, jj
“ They are not so big a stb e other Indians, and their eye-
lids bend, and open in ah oblong figure, pointing. downwards
at the comers, and forming an arch, or figure o f a crescent;
with the points downwards. From hence, and from thfiir
seeing so clear as they do in a moonshiny night, we used to
call them moon-eyed. For they see not well in the sun,
poring in the clearest day, their eyes being weak, and running
with water, if the sun shines towards them ; so that in the
day-time they care not to go abroad, unless it be a cloudy
dark day. Besides, they are a weak people in comparison of
the others, and not very fit for hunting and other laborious
exercises, nor do they delight in any such; but notwithstanding
their being thus sluggish and dull in the day-time, yet
when moonshiny nights come, they are all life and activity,
running abroad in the woods, and skipping about like wild
bucks, and running as fast by moon-light, even in the gloom'
and shade of the wo,q^i,as the other Indians by day; being
as nimble. -'as - they, though not so strong and lusty. The
Copper-coloured Indians* feeefrv hot to respect them so much
as those of their own complexion, ldoHim^ ©tb them as something
monstrous. They are mot a distinct race by themselves,
buit^ndw and thenVaraedi^ffsbiredi of as dopper-coloured father
and mother, and I have ' seen *of less than a year old of this
sprt.”#
Albinos have been observed in many« islands of the Indian
and greahtsoutherm oceanc?/*: The following is the description of
them, in Qtaheite,’ by Captain C o b k ;^w* Dttring' our stay on
this (island ewe saw about five or sbupersons whose skins were
of a dead white, like-the nose:.of,’a ' white horsmp with white
hair, beard/‘ eye-brows and* eye-lashes'; red» .tender - eyes, a
short) sight, and scurfy 1 skins;-< covered with a kiridi bf white\
down; . We found that no two of; these belonged to the same
family/’^.« An individual of this class was seen on the same
island/by vMr. Bankes and Dr. iSolanper,; and described by
th em : his skin was of a dead white; without the legist appearanee
of ’what is called complexion, though some; parts of
his-body vwere in a-small degree less,white than others: his
hair, eyerbrows, and beard were/as white as his skin; his
eyes appeared , as if they were blood-shot, and he seemed to
be very short-sighted. ”$4;
In Java, Ceylon, and other, neighbouring islands, albifios
are well known. Here, and on , the continent of India; they
are termed “ Chakrelas, or Kakkerlakken,” that is,, cockroaches.
Dubois has thus described the albino variety; as it
appears among the HindooSi-v“ It is no uncommon thing to
meet with a class of persons among the Hindoos, who are
born with a skin much whiter even than that of Europeans.*
But it is easy to perceive thafciitiisj no t; a natural colour, because
their hair is altogetheras white as their skin; and in
general their whole exterior appearance ijpunnatufal. They
have this distinguishing peculiarity, that they cannot endure
• Wafer’s accffuht of the Isthmus of Darien, 1699, also Phil. Transact. 1763.
■j* Cook, apud Hawkesworth, ii. 188. J Ibidem, p. 200.